Can Cannabis Help Treat Acne?

Acne is a very annoying skin condition which no one likes. For a long time, there have been products that haven't worked to reduce the full range of symptoms associated with the problem. Believe it or not, cannabis may be the next huge breakthrough in acne treatment.

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16 Jan 2018

WHAT IS ACNE?

Acne is a term that compiles a series of dermatological conditions. Blackheads, pimples, whiteheads, and even cysts all fall under the term. It’s the most common skin condition in America and probably in the world. Most people have had acne in one form or another at some stage in their lives. It happens when skin secretions clog up the pores. It will be more outwardly noticeable if you have a greasy/oily skin, which happens mostly during the teenage years.

This happens with the increased activity of our hormones during this age. It can lead to scarring if left untreated and it is also a very common cause of teenage depression. This is why, for many years, we have seen the market flood with different cleansers, moisturisers, and exfoliators to combat and prevent acne. But none of those work for everyone, and they don’t seem to fully remove the problem. This is where cannabis comes in. It might be the solution we have been looking for.

CANNABIS AND ACNE

It has been proven that the endocannabinoid system has receptors all throughout the skin. It’s responsible for controlling the balance and general well-being of skin cells. But this is no surprise. The endocannabinoid system has receptors spread throughout our entire body, brain, and central nervous system, influencing various physiological processes.

So much so that the sebaceous glands (those responsible for secreting oils into hair follicles) have been shown to contain cannabinoid receptors. This consequently means that cannabinoids will interact and affect their normal functioning. Being that the endocannabinoid system’s function is to keep everything in balance, it’s safe to assume that it could help normalise the levels of oil within our sebaceous glands.

And indeed, the journal of clinical investigation looked into this. They specifically researched how CBD worked to regulate the cells around the sebaceous gland. What they found was amazing.

CBD AS A POTENTIAL TREATMENT

In 2014, the JCI observed that CBD regulates the output of oil in the skin. It inhibits the lipid production in your skin cells. This means that CBD won’t work around your physiology and dehydrate your skin like a lot of acne products. CBD could literally normalise your skin’s oil production. This is fantastic news.

Since then, researchers have probed even deeper into this exploration. Let’s face it, a very effective acne product will be extremely profitable. Especially considering that it uses CBD, which is now widely legal.

There was another study that looked into CBD and skin appearance through a clinical procedure. To the surprise of the investigators, 100% of the participants noticed an improvement after just 14 days. This is extraordinary. It’s extremely rare to find any study with a 100% success rate, even in small sample sizes.

So now we know that CBD helps counteract the high levels of oil in our skin. But cannabis is much more than CBD. This is just one of the cannabinoids in the plant. Although it’s the second most abundant, THC is still around 20 times more dominant in most cannabis strains.

THC AND ACNE

In a Huffington Post interview, Dr Ariel Ostad states that THC increases the oil levels in the skin. It doesn’t do this directly, but it happens as a consequence of testosterone levels increasing when you consume cannabis. This explains why smoking cannabis flower won’t directly decrease acne. Most available strains are THC-dominant and with less than 1% CBD.

But unfortunately, this was a study conducted on mice and not on humans. Therefore, more conclusive research on THC is necessary. If you’re looking for a strain that will help your acne, for now you should limit your search to CBD-rich strains like Stress Killer or Fast Eddy.

CBD OIL

There’s a lot of people who don’t live in a place with an established cannabis market and legal framework. For these individuals, it might be hard to come across CBD oil. CBD oil is gaining traction as one of the best dietary supplements and alternative treatments for individuals with a wide variety of conditions, including those affecting the skin. This is largely due to its anti-inflammatory and anxiolytic actions. Just know that this is an option you can legally purchase online in most countries. If this is not the case for your country or region, hemp oil might be the solution for you.

HEMP SEED OIL

Hemp seed oil has great anti-inflammatory properties, is full of antioxidants, rich in omega fatty acids, and contains more than 50% of your daily linoleic acid. This last one is what regulates the production of good quality sebum in your skin. Not all sebum is the same. When the body lacks linoleic acid, it’s more likely to develop longer-lasting and nastier acne. Hemp seed oil will help balance these values in your body. And the great thing is that it can be applied as a topical, or consumed orally. It’s a very convenient product.

Hopefully we’ll see more availability of CBD/hemp products for acne in the future. But for now, all we can do is spread the news and get information out there. The sooner people realise what CBD can do, the sooner there will be investments made across multiple industries.